FLORENCE, S.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte women's volleyball team (6-4, 2-0 SAC) won one of its two matches in day two of the Francis Marion Invitational. After racing to a 3-0 win over Mount Olive (5-4), the Royals lost a tightly contested 3-2 match versus tournament host, Francis Marion (4-7).

Queens 3, Mount Olive 0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-21)
 
The Royals opened day two in dominant fashion with a straight set sweep over Mount Olive. In all three sets, the Trojans tallied the first lead, but the Royals used big rallies to propel ahead and never lose the lead. In the opening set, Queens rallied nine consecutive points forcing Mount Olive into a timeout. Freshman Kayla McDuffie (Winterville, N.C.) was flawless in the first set gaining five kills on six attempts. The rookie also added three solo blocks. As a team, the Royals set the tone early hitting .324 as a team in the first set while limiting the Trojans to a .195 mark.
 
The second frame opened with Mount Olive gaining the first few points, but Queens found their rhythm quickly again. The Royals posted seven straight points which was capped off by an Abbey Criser (West Yarmouth, Mass.) kill and a Mount Olive timeout. Queens maintained that momentum and never trailed the rest of the set. The Royals generated more attack attempts at 46-35 and cashed in with those attacks by hitting .304 in the set. Mount Olive committed eight attacking errors in the set and hit .114.
 
The third set was contested early as both squads kept it close. Leading 8-7, the Royals used a six-point rally to open the score up and take control of the tempo. The Trojans would try to mount a late comeback, but a timely timeout from head coach Hannah Long would halt the Mount Olive push and lead to a service error to finish the match.
 
Grace Giunta (Palm City, Fla.) and Kayla McDuffie led the attack with nine kills each. Freshman Jesse George contributed eight kills, four assists, and nine digs in the victory. Amara Eziakonwa led the Trojans attack with 11 kills and a .450 hitting percentage.
 
 
Francis Marion 3, Queens 2 (20-25, 25-20, 25-20, 24-26, 7-15)
 
After surrendering the final five points to drop set one, Queens tightened up its defense holding the Patriots to .063 and -.021 hitting percentage in sets two and three to rally to five point victories.

Set four was back and fourth the whole way with the Royals tying the score at 24-24 in their attempt to win the match in four sets. Francis Marion responded scoring the final two points to force a final fifth set.

Francis Marion hit .286 in the fifth set and sealed the 3-2 victory.

George led the Royals with 19 kills. Senior Lindsay Elmore tied a career high recording eight blocks while Loren Johnson paced Queens with 25 digs.

The Royals will return to the court on Thursday, Sept. 23 when they travel to Wingate for a conference showdown beginning at 7:00 p.m. The Royals are 2-0 in South Atlantic Conference play thus far and Wingate holds a 6-2 overall record and 2-2 mark in conference play. Be sure to follow the Royals on Instagram and Twitter to stay up to date on all game updates and news.